"Another Mafia." How Brest taxi drivers profit from queues at the Belarusian-Polish border

"This amount includes everything: both the taxi and the bus"

When Timofey arrived at the border, there were 18 buses in front of him — at least, that's what the Border Committee website indicated. The man had no experience with such trips and knew nothing about paid transfers to buses at the front.

At the border, a taxi driver approached Timofey and offered to drive him to the front of the queue for 50 euros, where he would be guaranteed a seat on the first bus.

"At first I thought I only had to pay 50 euros to the taxi driver, and then separately pay extra for a seat on the bus. But the driver explained to me that this amount includes everything: both the taxi and the bus. Well, he also started saying that I wouldn't find such offers anywhere else, no other drivers would take the risk, etc."

Timofey agreed. He says he didn't want to wait for many hours in the queue. However, he didn't pay anything to the taxi driver himself — the money was taken by the driver of the Polish bus. Timofey assumes that the taxi driver then received his share from the carrier, but the man has no proof of this.

"The price is 10 rubles, hawkers asked for 25"

Timofey's story is not unique. Most studied a specialized chat and found that users also write about similar cases there.

Taxi drivers offer several options for taking passengers to the front of the queue. One of them is official: tourists in Brest call a car through an app, and the trip is paid for according to the tariff.

"A taxi to the border — 9 rubles, they drove to the first bus. There are many unlicensed taxis at the station, they say only they can drive to the first bus and arrange for a pick-up," shares information a user under the nickname Sasha (here and further, messages are edited for readability).

User Olga Chernovol crossed the border at the end of August. She pre-downloaded a taxi app and chose cash payment. The woman did not have a Belarusian SIM card, so she had problems with the internet. At the station, she asked people waiting for their cars to connect to the internet and called a taxi to the checkpoint.

"The cost is 10 Belarusian rubles. Hawkers asked for 25. I was at the barrier at 8:10 and asked to get on the second bus to Warsaw. We entered at 9:30," the user shared her experience.

"Bombilami" (unlicensed taxis) or "zazyvalami" (hawkers) is what Belarusians call taxi drivers who do not work through apps. Tourists say it's not difficult to find them. As a rule, they themselves wait for passengers near the entrance to the station.

"When you arrive, exit through the main entrance at the station — taxi drivers are already standing there, waiting for arrivals, and take them to the barrier," describes the situation one of the users.

Vladimir, judging by the cost of the trip, used the services of precisely such taxi drivers.

"From the railway station by taxi — 25 rubles — they drove to the first bus. I got on the second one to Warsaw, the price was 50 dollars."

But stories about much higher prices also appear in the chats. Alena Volkova writes that this weekend the tariff was particularly high.

"Now, passengers from Brest got on the Minsk-Prague bus at the station, knowing that there were more than 30 buses ahead. They said that delivery and seating at the front of the queue cost 150 euros."

"They are in the same boat"

There are also stories in the chat about taxi drivers taking passengers to the first bus for free — as in Timofey's case.

"Paid nothing. Apparently, the taxi has an agreement with the Polish carrier," speculates a user under the nickname Dzmitry.

"Taxi drivers drove from the back to the front of the queue. They didn't take money. They are in the same boat," another user confirms his version.

Passengers also point out that the same cars can appear several times in a row near the buses at the front of the queue.

"Today, taxi drivers drove up to the first bus about five or six times — the same ones within 10 minutes. There's clearly a conspiracy here," wrote one of the discussion participants.

Other Belarusians advise calling a taxi through apps. In their opinion, this way you can save money and not support unofficial businesses.

"A taxi is another mafia that feeds off this situation."

How the transfer is arranged

The practice of transferring passengers from one bus to another appeared long ago and was associated with long queues at the border. When waiting stretched for a day or more, passengers began to look for an opportunity not to wait all that time on the bus, but to transfer to one that was already closer to the barrier.

The scheme is simple: a passenger travels to the border by bus, gets off, and arranges for a seat on another bus that is at the front. Currently, the transfer cost is approximately the same for everyone — 50 euros. Free seats don't run out. They are provided by people who disembarked when the bus was still at the tail of the queue.

Gradually, travelers found another, more budget-friendly option. They stopped buying tickets for regular or tourist buses and started getting to Brest independently: some by car, some by train or bus. And then they call a taxi (or taxi drivers themselves offer their services) and go directly to the front of the queue. There they can already look for a bus with a free seat and arrange a transfer.

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